Theme: Le Puzzle - LE is attached to CK-ending words in 7 common phrases.
22A. Cheap laugh? : TWO-BUCK CHUCKLE. Two-buck chuck. Fun clue/Answer.
32A. Create belt hardware in record time? : MAKE A FAST BUCKLE. Make a fast buck.
50A. Sweet-and-sour pita sandwich with a crunch? : PICKLE POCKET. Pickpocket. Sounds delicious. I love pickled everything.
68A. Pet's protective-yet-amusing neckwear? : FLEA AND TICKLE COLLAR. Flea and tick collar.
89A. Old-fashioned restraint with a built-in boom box? : RADIO SHACKLE. RadioShack.
102A. Plumber's inquiry about a drippy faucet? : TRICKLE QUESTION. Trick question.
119A. Like an off-key football lineman? : SHARP AS A TACKLE. Sharp as a tack. "Like a bright football lineman" would not have changed the base phrase much. So, I like the "Off-key" clue.
This is another puzzle with fairly long theme entries and tricky letter combo in CKs, which could make the gridding challenging.
A few hiccups for me. But an enjoyable solving. I was excited to see Liz Gorski's name. This is her first LA Times since we made the shift in March 2009. Her puzzles are always original, creative and often feature a visual element.
Across:
1. Not more than : AT MOST
7. Mayo to mayo, e.g. : ANO. Mayo = May.
10. "__ Blue": George Strait hit : AM I. It's been covered by many.
13. One of the Three Bears : MAMA
17. Pacify : SOOTHE
18. No : REFUSAL. I don't think Splynter will say No to this one.
20. Quieted : LULLED
24. It can knock you out : OPIATE. And 28D. Old knockout agent : ETHER. Clecho (clue echo).
25. Commentator Coulter : ANN. I like her hair. That's about all.
26. "Evita" role : CHE
27. Casino attraction : SLOT
28. Rescue squad initials : EMS
29. Ripken of baseball : CAL. "Iron Man". Very classy. He came to Kirby Puckett's funeral and his anecdote moved me to tears.
30. U.S. territory divided in 1889 : DAK
37. Caspian feeder : URAL
39. Letters under TUV, on many phones : OPER
40. About 30% of Africa : SAHARA. Literally "desert".
41. "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer O'Connor : SINEAD. Her latest marriage/divorce has been heavily covered by the tabloid.
43. Gad about : ROAM
46. Hiker's power lunch? : ENERGY BAR. I love Larabar.
53. Earth, to Mahler : ERDE
54. Japanese veggie : UDO. Here it is. Mountain veggie, though some are farmed.
55. Iceland-to-Ireland dir. : SSE
56. Vegas-based TV drama : CSI
57. Fusses : ADOs
59. Ocean diver : OSPREY
61. Old cash register key : NO SALE
64. Bakery artists : ICERS
67. Big 12 Conference city : AMES. Iowa State.
73. Ran away : FLED
74. Norwegian king who died in 1000 : OLAV I. Always need the crossing for the last letter of these OLAV/OLAF answers.
75. Los __ : ALAMOS
76. Untrustworthy sort : WEASEL
79. Beau and Jeff, to Lloyd : SONS
81. "Pshaw!" : BAH
82. Have dinner : SUP
85. DC Comics collectible: Abbr. : ISS (Issue). Lots of comic books at our local flea market.
86. Actress Hatcher : TERI
93. Protein shake spoonful : WHEAT GERM. Never had it.
96. Future D.A.'s exam : LSAT
97. Bless with oil : ANOINT
98. Sounds heard from herds : BAA BAA
99. Sports doc's pix : MRIs
101. College application nos. : GPAs
108. Botanist Gray : ASA. Learned from doing Xword.
109. Startled cries : OHs
110. Common Mkt. : EEC
111. Battleship color : GRAY. Battleship gray.
112. Yellow wheels : CAB
114. Knock : RAP
117. Morning rounds? : DONUTS. Sweet clue.
123. Latin carol starter : ADESTE. "Adeste Fideles".
124. Least arduous : EASIEST
125. Manhattan-to-Far Rockaway service : A-TRAIN. I've never been to NY.
126. Sources of red berries : YEWS
127. Soul, to Sartre : AME
128. Galoot : APE
129. Paine and others, religiously : DEISTS. My friend Linda reads Bible every night.
Down:
1. Whodunit pooch : ASTA
2. Hamlet's kin : TOWN
3. Van Morrison album or song : MOON DANCE. Gimme for Melissa.
4. Handicapper's hangout, for short : OTB (Off-Track Betting)
5. Oyster shell : SHUCK
6. PC doctor : TECH
7. Not the shortest line between two points : ARC. So, what's the shortest line between two points then?
8. O.T. book : NEH
9. Handy : OF USE
10. Demand from : ASK OF
11. Glucose-creating enzyme : MALTASE. Sometimes we see ASE clued as "Enzyme suffix".
12. Suffix with infant : ILE
13. 1051, on a monument : MLI
14. Old-style term of regret : ALACK. Alas and alack.
15. Mercury, for one : METAL
16. High-heeled Astaire : ADELE. But this Adele is everywhere now.
19. Team with 17 official Final Four appearances : UCLA
20. Guy in front of an orchestra : LOMBARDO. Oh, his name is Guy Lombardo. No idea.
21. High rises : UPSURGES
23. Dole running mate : KEMP (Jack)
31. Supermodel Wek : ALEK. Lovely.
33. Dynamic leader? : AERO. Aerodynamic.
34. Big cheese linked with Big Macs? : KROC (Ray). Great clue.
35. Not certifiable? : SANE. I'm not familiar with the "insane" meaning of "certifiable".
36. Low island : CAY
37. Mail letters : USPS
38. Social reformer Jacob : RIIS. Another name I learned from doing Xword.
39. Potemkin mutiny city : ODESSA. Drew a blank.
42. Wrap initialism : ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America)
44. Rap sheet initials : AKA
45. Healing : MEDICINAL. Has anyone tried traditional Chinese herbal medicine?
47. Myanmar, formerly : BURMA
48. "Doe, __, a female ..." : A DEER
49. Rogers and Lichtenstein : ROYS
51. Cliburn's instrument : PIANO. Van Cliburn.
52. Every other second? : TOCK. Tick tock. Tricky clue.
58. Actress Ward : SELA
60. Chums : PALS
61. Composer Rorem et al. : NEDS.
62. "Bad" cholesterol, briefly : LDL
63. JFK postings : ETAS
65. Faith syst. : REL
66. Picket line crossers : SCABS
68. Blood partner : FLESH
69. It may involve a flat fee : LEASE. Flat = Apartment. Always a good word to mislead solvers.
70. "The Lodger" actor Novello : IVOR. Another learning moment. Looks like he was wearing eyeliners.
71. Sioux enemies : OMAHAS
72. "Mean Girls" actress : LOHAN. She's back!
73. IMHO cousin : FWIW (For What It's Worth)
77. Teen comic originally focused on social graces : ETTA KETT. Gimme, Argyle?
78. Some fine print : LEGALESE
80. '60s campus gp. : SDS
82. Duds for the downwardly mobile? : SKI PARKAS. Well, for Marti. I don't feel stupid not getting this clue, since I'm not "downwardly mobile".
83. Forearm bone : ULNA
84. Vet's charges : PETS
87. Medieval violin-like instrument : REBEC. See here. Unknown to me.
88. Jordan neighbor : IRAQ
90. "__ Said": Neil Diamond hit : I AM I
91. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRO
92. Sprockets : COGS
94. "Modern Family" airer : ABC
95. "Of Human Bondage" author : MAUGHAM
100. Machu Picchu architect : INCA
102. Longtime morning show : TODAY
103. __ Island : RHODE
104. "So what else __?" : IS NEW
105. Delete : ERASE
106. Indian wedding dress, perhaps : SARI. So, can the bride and groom kiss at their wedding?
107. Like go-getters : TYPE A
108. Ease : ABATE
113. Barely : A TAD
115. Came down to earth : ALIT
116. Cross creations : PENS. And 119. Crossing site : SEA
118. __ Constitution : USS
120. Egyptian viper : ASP
121. Fr. holy woman : STE
122. Dernier __ : CRI
C.C.
22A. Cheap laugh? : TWO-BUCK CHUCKLE. Two-buck chuck. Fun clue/Answer.
32A. Create belt hardware in record time? : MAKE A FAST BUCKLE. Make a fast buck.
50A. Sweet-and-sour pita sandwich with a crunch? : PICKLE POCKET. Pickpocket. Sounds delicious. I love pickled everything.
68A. Pet's protective-yet-amusing neckwear? : FLEA AND TICKLE COLLAR. Flea and tick collar.
89A. Old-fashioned restraint with a built-in boom box? : RADIO SHACKLE. RadioShack.
102A. Plumber's inquiry about a drippy faucet? : TRICKLE QUESTION. Trick question.
119A. Like an off-key football lineman? : SHARP AS A TACKLE. Sharp as a tack. "Like a bright football lineman" would not have changed the base phrase much. So, I like the "Off-key" clue.
This is another puzzle with fairly long theme entries and tricky letter combo in CKs, which could make the gridding challenging.
A few hiccups for me. But an enjoyable solving. I was excited to see Liz Gorski's name. This is her first LA Times since we made the shift in March 2009. Her puzzles are always original, creative and often feature a visual element.
Across:
1. Not more than : AT MOST
7. Mayo to mayo, e.g. : ANO. Mayo = May.
10. "__ Blue": George Strait hit : AM I. It's been covered by many.
13. One of the Three Bears : MAMA
17. Pacify : SOOTHE
18. No : REFUSAL. I don't think Splynter will say No to this one.
20. Quieted : LULLED
24. It can knock you out : OPIATE. And 28D. Old knockout agent : ETHER. Clecho (clue echo).
25. Commentator Coulter : ANN. I like her hair. That's about all.
26. "Evita" role : CHE
27. Casino attraction : SLOT
28. Rescue squad initials : EMS
29. Ripken of baseball : CAL. "Iron Man". Very classy. He came to Kirby Puckett's funeral and his anecdote moved me to tears.
30. U.S. territory divided in 1889 : DAK
37. Caspian feeder : URAL
39. Letters under TUV, on many phones : OPER
40. About 30% of Africa : SAHARA. Literally "desert".
41. "Nothing Compares 2 U" singer O'Connor : SINEAD. Her latest marriage/divorce has been heavily covered by the tabloid.
43. Gad about : ROAM
46. Hiker's power lunch? : ENERGY BAR. I love Larabar.
53. Earth, to Mahler : ERDE
54. Japanese veggie : UDO. Here it is. Mountain veggie, though some are farmed.
55. Iceland-to-Ireland dir. : SSE
56. Vegas-based TV drama : CSI
57. Fusses : ADOs
59. Ocean diver : OSPREY
61. Old cash register key : NO SALE
64. Bakery artists : ICERS
67. Big 12 Conference city : AMES. Iowa State.
73. Ran away : FLED
74. Norwegian king who died in 1000 : OLAV I. Always need the crossing for the last letter of these OLAV/OLAF answers.
75. Los __ : ALAMOS
76. Untrustworthy sort : WEASEL
79. Beau and Jeff, to Lloyd : SONS
81. "Pshaw!" : BAH
82. Have dinner : SUP
85. DC Comics collectible: Abbr. : ISS (Issue). Lots of comic books at our local flea market.
86. Actress Hatcher : TERI
93. Protein shake spoonful : WHEAT GERM. Never had it.
96. Future D.A.'s exam : LSAT
97. Bless with oil : ANOINT
98. Sounds heard from herds : BAA BAA
99. Sports doc's pix : MRIs
101. College application nos. : GPAs
108. Botanist Gray : ASA. Learned from doing Xword.
109. Startled cries : OHs
110. Common Mkt. : EEC
111. Battleship color : GRAY. Battleship gray.
112. Yellow wheels : CAB
114. Knock : RAP
117. Morning rounds? : DONUTS. Sweet clue.
123. Latin carol starter : ADESTE. "Adeste Fideles".
124. Least arduous : EASIEST
125. Manhattan-to-Far Rockaway service : A-TRAIN. I've never been to NY.
126. Sources of red berries : YEWS
127. Soul, to Sartre : AME
128. Galoot : APE
129. Paine and others, religiously : DEISTS. My friend Linda reads Bible every night.
Down:
1. Whodunit pooch : ASTA
2. Hamlet's kin : TOWN
3. Van Morrison album or song : MOON DANCE. Gimme for Melissa.
4. Handicapper's hangout, for short : OTB (Off-Track Betting)
5. Oyster shell : SHUCK
6. PC doctor : TECH
7. Not the shortest line between two points : ARC. So, what's the shortest line between two points then?
8. O.T. book : NEH
9. Handy : OF USE
10. Demand from : ASK OF
11. Glucose-creating enzyme : MALTASE. Sometimes we see ASE clued as "Enzyme suffix".
12. Suffix with infant : ILE
13. 1051, on a monument : MLI
14. Old-style term of regret : ALACK. Alas and alack.
15. Mercury, for one : METAL
16. High-heeled Astaire : ADELE. But this Adele is everywhere now.
19. Team with 17 official Final Four appearances : UCLA
20. Guy in front of an orchestra : LOMBARDO. Oh, his name is Guy Lombardo. No idea.
21. High rises : UPSURGES
23. Dole running mate : KEMP (Jack)
31. Supermodel Wek : ALEK. Lovely.
33. Dynamic leader? : AERO. Aerodynamic.
34. Big cheese linked with Big Macs? : KROC (Ray). Great clue.
35. Not certifiable? : SANE. I'm not familiar with the "insane" meaning of "certifiable".
36. Low island : CAY
37. Mail letters : USPS
38. Social reformer Jacob : RIIS. Another name I learned from doing Xword.
39. Potemkin mutiny city : ODESSA. Drew a blank.
42. Wrap initialism : ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America)
44. Rap sheet initials : AKA
45. Healing : MEDICINAL. Has anyone tried traditional Chinese herbal medicine?
47. Myanmar, formerly : BURMA
48. "Doe, __, a female ..." : A DEER
49. Rogers and Lichtenstein : ROYS
51. Cliburn's instrument : PIANO. Van Cliburn.
52. Every other second? : TOCK. Tick tock. Tricky clue.
58. Actress Ward : SELA
60. Chums : PALS
61. Composer Rorem et al. : NEDS.
62. "Bad" cholesterol, briefly : LDL
63. JFK postings : ETAS
65. Faith syst. : REL
66. Picket line crossers : SCABS
68. Blood partner : FLESH
69. It may involve a flat fee : LEASE. Flat = Apartment. Always a good word to mislead solvers.
70. "The Lodger" actor Novello : IVOR. Another learning moment. Looks like he was wearing eyeliners.
71. Sioux enemies : OMAHAS
72. "Mean Girls" actress : LOHAN. She's back!
73. IMHO cousin : FWIW (For What It's Worth)
77. Teen comic originally focused on social graces : ETTA KETT. Gimme, Argyle?
78. Some fine print : LEGALESE
80. '60s campus gp. : SDS
82. Duds for the downwardly mobile? : SKI PARKAS. Well, for Marti. I don't feel stupid not getting this clue, since I'm not "downwardly mobile".
83. Forearm bone : ULNA
84. Vet's charges : PETS
87. Medieval violin-like instrument : REBEC. See here. Unknown to me.
88. Jordan neighbor : IRAQ
90. "__ Said": Neil Diamond hit : I AM I
91. Other, in Oaxaca : OTRO
92. Sprockets : COGS
94. "Modern Family" airer : ABC
95. "Of Human Bondage" author : MAUGHAM
100. Machu Picchu architect : INCA
102. Longtime morning show : TODAY
103. __ Island : RHODE
104. "So what else __?" : IS NEW
105. Delete : ERASE
106. Indian wedding dress, perhaps : SARI. So, can the bride and groom kiss at their wedding?
107. Like go-getters : TYPE A
108. Ease : ABATE
113. Barely : A TAD
115. Came down to earth : ALIT
116. Cross creations : PENS. And 119. Crossing site : SEA
118. __ Constitution : USS
120. Egyptian viper : ASP
121. Fr. holy woman : STE
122. Dernier __ : CRI
C.C.
69 comments:
Morning, all!
Up early with the time change and boy, am I tired...
Nice puzzle today. The theme was cute and well done, although after the first couple of theme answers revealed themselves I became convinced that all of them would end with LE. It didn't help that I've never heard of "sweet and sour" PICKLES before (give me a nice Kosher Dill any day) and was trying to come up with something to do with Chinese food at 50A.
Elsewhere, I wasn't familiar with MOONDANCE, but finally sussed it out via the perps. In the same area, I knew that SHUCK was a verb meaning to remove the shell of an oyster, but I never knew the shell was actually called a SHUCK. Live and learn!
Oh, and C.C. -- the shortest line between two points is a straight one...
Good morning C.C. et al.
The theme really TICKLEd my funny bone. I had the SHACKLE at 89A, so filled in “caddy” without reading the clue very closely. That held me up for a while until I finally changed it to RADIO. My favorite, though, was FLEA AND TICKLE COLLAR.
I wanted SKI “jacket” for the downwardly mobile duds, C.C., but PARKA it is! I just bought a new one at an end-of season sale. It normally sells for $299, but I only paid $65 !!!
Here is Van Morrison’s ”MOONDANCE”
…one of my favorites. It was featured in the movie ”August Rush”.
Elizabeth, cute theme answers and great puns, I liked "duds for the downwardly mobile" and "mayo to mayo."
I see that Two Buck Chuck is a wine.
CC I agree about ANN Coulter.
Here is my first thought when I see A TRAIN:
Link Take the A Train
Good Morning C.C. and friends. Fun puzzle, although I didn't get my first fill until I found the MAMA bear. MAKE A FAST BUCKLE was my first theme answer. That gave me the LE gimmick.
My favorite clue was Morning Rounds = DONUTS. My colleagues often bring donuts into the office. I try to resist.
Hi There ~!
I was pre-disappointed when I saw "LE" in the title, figuring it would be some French themed puzzle, but I was happy to find out that I was wrong.
PICKLE POCKET came first, and of course, I liked "TRICKLE QUESTION" the most ~!
C.C., you bring Yvonne, and I'll show you around NYC ~! Love them shoes ~!
Splynter
Hello Sunday Solvers!
I was TICKLEd by today's puzzle and by your Ann Coulter observation, CC. I started off poorly, though. I wanted oyster shell to be a WATCH (don't they refer to a Rolex as an oyster shell?). Slowed me down a bit.
CC, here's an example of that use of Certifiable.
Favorite clues: Guy in front of an orchestra and Wrap initialism. CC, if you'd been in the US a decade earlier, you'd recognize Guy Lombardo as the band leader who ushered in the new year, every year, with Auld Lang Syne at midnight. He was an institution on TV. Now Dick Clark is the institution. (Certifiable?)
To PK from last night who suggested specifying how your tax money should be spent. "Probably would cut down on the arguments in congress." PK, I guarantee it. People who don't get paid would stop showing up. The halls of congress would be empty.
A more important TRICKLE QUESTION would be: "Is there a urologist in the house?"
Good morning, C.C. and Sunday solvers all. Great puzzle Ms Gorski.
I tried to mess this up in several places, nacre before SHUCK, maamaa before BAABAA and EEU before EEC for examples, but the theme entries got me back on track in most places. The last correction was finally recalling REBEC. Nice Sunday morning workout for the sleep deprived grey matter.
Every other second/TOCK was great.
I'm with you, C.C., on OLAv/f and the number to follow. I put in OLA and waait for the perps.
We just got a Trader Joe's in Naples. Now I can check out the TWO BUCK CHUCK (which now costs three bucks, I'm told).
I was surprised to see 'gray' as both a clue and an entry.
Spring is just around the corner, love is in the air and all of that cliche stuff. Our resident alligator in the small lake behind our house has now been joined by a second 'gator. I'm afraid someone will get upset with two 8 footers and have them removed.
Now that's a pithy remark! And is it a urologist or an urologist? Grammarians?
And what ever happened to the NASCAR driver with the unfortunate name, Dick Trickle? What were his parents thinking? They were like the Head parents who named their son, Richard. Yup, a real Dick Head.
Hah! D.O.
I wasn't sure either. I looked it up before posting!
Link
73D flummoxed me. "Stow" would have been easier. Thanks for the explanation,c.c. Now can you tell this old fogy what IMHO is?
only on this blog would a funny joke be graded for its grammar.
Anon@9:37 -- I wasn't degrading it, just curious.
Oh, and CC, guess you would have to have been here a couple of decades earlier. Guy Lombardo died in '77. How time flies!
In My Humble Opinion
Hello Puzzlers -
Technical DNF today. Never heard of MAUGHAM, and when I turned to Goog for "human bondage", it returned no results, just "no matches". No idea why. A later attempt, same spelling, worked normally. A mystery!
Also never heard of a REBEC, and since I didn't believe BAA BAA would be a legitimate answer, that area froze up. Had to red letter it.
I'm going to blame it on the time change.
Fun Sunday puzzle, Elizabeth!
Musings
-Two Buck Chuck?
-All 3 bears were suspects
-Ether wasn’t a “number” this time
-Energy Bars fill one pocket of my golf bag.
-Big 12 had 10 teams this year and Big 10 has 12
-Los Alamos’s claim to fame
-WEASEL in an election year? You bet.
-SUP is now a greeting.
-We had to water the YEWS in front of our house all winter
-I don’t think DEISTS have much use for the Bible
-On a globe, an ARC is the shortest distance
-Big Mac big cheese made a big contribution to Omaha as he and his wife have to many cities
-Lohan was a bust (no, the other kind) on SNL last week
-I’m not a real TYPE A but my blood is
Good morning all:
Great, fun puzzle, Ms. Gorse, and nice write-up,
CC.
No major hangups as perps did their job. Liked morning rounds clue best.
Ann Coulter's voice is the equivalent of fingernails on a blackboard.
Happy Sunday, everyone.
Between Ann and Che, I'll take Ann. She didn't murder as many people as Che.
Loved this puzzle; favorite by far: Every other second?: TOCK. Most misleading: Hamlet's kin : TOWN. Every time I see ANOINT I wonder why it isn't ANNOINT, and quickly forget the correct spelling again.
Always wonder about grey vs gray; here's the secret.
I shared Barry G.'s ignorance of SHUCK; with Grumpy 1, I wanted NACRE, but got that bad feeling while exploring perps prior to pencilling it in.
You have to think phonetically when deciding whether to use a vs an. There are historical exceptions, now considered quaint, but they still sound better to me. I guess I'm an historical kind of guy.
Arguably, on a globe the shortest distance IS a "straight" line by the shortest-distance definition of "straight". Since it is actually an arc (of a great circle), it is a curve if viewed in 3-space without the globe in the way. I think a similar thing happens in space these days, thanks to Einstein, but I'm no Einstein.
Greetings, C.C. It's always a pleasure to see you at the helm. And hello all weekend warriors.
Thank you, Elizabeth, for creating a pleasurable maze for us to walk through.
Starting at the NE corner gave me BUCKLE and then MAKE A FAST popped out to complete it. Very amusing.
All else clicked right along until supermodel Wek of whom I've never heard and i wasn't fooled by flat fee, LEASE. Clever! DAK cleared that up and FINISHED MOON DANCE.
Re: a or an with u; when u says it's name (you) it's "a"
a university, a utility, but
an upper story, an unusual sight, an umbrella
Enjoy that extra hour today, everyone!
Good morning C.C. and all.
A not so difficult Sunday solve. The theme was fun with the 'le' addition. Not much new to add to the comments. I was wondering if the 'gray' connection between 108a and 111a qualifies for a clecho. BTW, the battleship color is actually "haze gray". Further, "haze gray and underway" is shorthand for naval surface warships at sea. It is also used to refer to life in a vessel at sea with the working Navy, as opposed to shore postings. Should have known the DAK entry, but had to wait for the perps. Ditto with others on OLAV I. Some good vertical fill, too, such as SKI PARKAS, MEDICINAL, and MAUGHAM.
D-Otto @ 0926. Regarding a, an: Regardless of the spelling of the modified word, if it starts with a consonant sound, the correct article is "a". Urologist starts with a consonant sound.
Have a great day.
Lucina: we don't get that extra hour until fall.
Somerset Maugham is one of my favorite novelist. Check out his book, of human bondage, Dudley
Oh, yes, March forward! Since we don't change my grasp on it is fuzzy.
And the rule is:
a before a consonant sound
an before a vowel sound
as has been noted, the "you" sound produces a consonant, ergo it's "a"
Hi C.C. & gang,
My wife and I team up on Sunday's usually. She got most of the theme before I did also.
Here's Neil Diamond's 'I am I said'
Got thrown off by Hamlet's kin; stayed with Shakespeare too long
Good afternoon, folks. Thank you, Elizabeth Gorski, for a fine Sunday puzzle. Thank you, C.C., for a fine write-up.
When I saw the theme I was afraid this was going to be a french themed puzzle, "Le." I think Splynter made the same statement. However, once I got FLEA AND TICKLE COLLAR I was relieved. The rest came quite easily. I never heard of TWO BUCK CHUCK, wine I assume. I have heard of Boone's Farm, and have consumed some of that in years past. I really am a beer guy.
Had EVA for 26A for a while. It became obvious I was wrong, so I wound up with CHE, which makes sense. He was around back then, and very active in his nefarious operations.
ANN Coulter came easily. I generally go along with her. She has made some outrageous statements, however, but so have many other commentators on both sides. I won't go into my opinion of the Media.
BAA BAA was tough for me. Got it with perps.
Had a great prime rib dinner last night. Brought the bone home for the dog. She loved it.
Today I will be reading for my book club meeting tomorrow. We are reading "Cutting for Stone" by Abraham Verghese. It is pretty good so far, the setting is in Ethiopia initially.
See you tomorrow.
Abejo
This was fun but it took me a while. I admit that Mayo to Mayo got me. I sussed it out from the crossing letters but didn't GET it until I came here. Hamlet's kin got me also.
C.C., where do you dig up links like that one of Yvonne Strahovski? She looks a little like Jack's daughter on 24, another great-looking woman.
I totally agree about Ann Coulter even though she graduated from the same university that I did. She's mean-spirited and polarizing. I don't even like her hair.
DST got to me this morning. I couldn't believe that it was time to get up. A nice nap has helped to put things right again.
Abejo, where' your prime rib photo?
Hello everybody. Wow, so many doggone clocks to change in our house.
Good puzzle; lots of 3-letter fill, but that's to be expected I guess. I agree with Spitzboov: "Some good vertical fill, too, such as SKI PARKAS, MEDICINAL, and MAUGHAM."
LW and I have been drinking Two-Buck Chuck for years (and other wines too, of course.) Around here it's more like Six-Buck Chuck now. By the way, its real name is Charles Shaw, hence the "Chuck."
A good friend of mine back in college was named Charles, but everybody called him "Chappie." Strange but interesting nickname.
Best wishes to you all.
Hi all! Nice write-up C.C., thanks for the ANO explanation, totally missed that Mayo thing.
Loved TOCK - favorite clue today.
Struggled with SKI PARKAS because a dumpster in the UK is called a skip, and I had SKIP?????S, and was trying to figure out what you wear when you go dumpster-diving, and so on and so forth. Got there in the end though.
Didn't have to change one clock today, I have computers and a cellphone and they take care of themselves!
Greetings!
Great puzzle, Elizabeth; swell write-up, CC!
Favorite answer: TOCK.
Got stuck for a while in the NW corner. The SHUCK really confused me. Along with Hamlet's kin. Finally divorced Shakespeare idea!
The theme answers were great! I too was glad that French was not the indicated language for the theme.
No cheating. Just patience. Must have been easy as brain is not functioning well. (Know this because I just watched a few Jeopardy show I had recorded.
Cheers!
Hi Everyone ~~
I know Liz Gorski puzzles can be challenging and I plodded along carefully on this one. I caught the theme with TWOBUCKCHUCK-LE even though I didn't know what the phrase meant. Knowing how the LE fit did help with some of the other theme answers and it was a fun solve!
I ended up with two blank squares ~ I was stumped by the 'Mayo to mayo' clue and also didn't know REBEC. Thanks for that learning moment C.C. and for your other explanations and comments. I always look forward to your write-ups!
~~ My favorites were SHARP AS A TACKLE, 'Every other second' - TOCK and 'Hamlet kin' - TOWN.
~ I had 'Eat' before SUP, 'Send' before USPS and like Mike, I always want to spell ANOINT with two Ns.
~~ I was seeing 82D as SKIP-something before finally seeing SKI-.
~~ I remember Guy Lombardo from many years ago watching with my parents on New Year's Eve.
~~ C.C. ~ In your link to IVOR Novello, it seems he either has eyeliner on just one eye or someone gave him a shiner! ;-)
C.C.: It amazes me when I read the write-up how many entries (UCLA, KEMP, AKA, a few others) were filled by 'perps'.
Liz: Thank You for a FUN Sunday puzzle.
FWIW: ALEK & IVOR were leaning moments I'm working on forgeting.
Shortest distance? a "direct" line.
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" whether that line is "Gay or straight."
Steve, I didn't have to change a clock TODAY either.
At "Villa Incognito" we "Sprang Ahead" on Thursday.
Though, I'm now invoking the "The Sun is setting somewhere rule" for my first Pinch.
Cheers!
Lucina-Thought of you while doing the NYT's puzzle earlier. The clue was Saunter with style and the answer was one of your favorite words, Sashay! LOL.
Just noticed that I spelled Ms. Gorski's name incorrectly. Mea culpa.
Lucina, I smiled yesterday when I saw you say you might name your car Axolotl.
A question: In "Mayo to mayo..." are the month names not capitalized in Spanish?
The clue for TOCK today is 100 times more imaginative than the clue for TOCK in last weeks NYT puzzle, which was "Clock sound".
Ever notice how sometimes several newspaper comic strips seem to have the same theme on a given day? I wonder if the comic strip creators have meetings to talk over ideas. "Guys, how about ham bones as an idea?"
On the surface of a sphere, the angles of a triangle add up to 270 degrees, not 180. Weird.
Aw shucks, I think I'll go shuck the shucks offa them oysters for dinner tonight. Maybe a glass of Six-buck Shuck Shardonnay to go with.
No, I'm not crazy, just being silly.
I posted this late last night. I think it's well worth a look if you missed it.
Here is a spectacular time-lapse video taken in Yosemite National Park. Best viewed in full screen.
Bill G, I watched that video of Yosemite last night. It is definitely a spectacular place. Thanks for posting it.
BTW, HeartRx, speaking Steamboat Springs, Colorado, my employer just had their annual company meeting there a couple of weekends ago. Fun place!
Another example: "An honorary degree" because "honorary" begins with a vowel sound.
With all the talk of tock today I can't resist mentioning an old joke. It's largely visual, but it involves sinister looking bad guys in a dimly lit room interrogating a guy in a straight-jacket. He's sitting in a chair intermittently swaying from a vertical position to the right while uttering the word: "Tick" each time he gets to the end of the sway.
In a thick Eastern European accent, one of the bad guys says: "Ve vill make you tock!"
Avg Joe, *groan* :)
No comment on today's puzzle other than some minor red fading to black.
(& i tried to put CKLE at the end of every theme answer, but that didn't work.)
Oh yes, Thank you LaLaLinda, i never would have understood "hamlet Kin" without your post.
I know Downton Abbey seems to be a big favorite here, but unfortunately i have not seen it, but the Sunday Comics have. Does
Folderol mean anything to you?
More on Ann Coulter thread
She has beautiful hair and IS polarizing and hateful. The same could be said of Keith Olberman, Bill Mahr, et al on the left.
Spite lives on both sides of the political fence and a great living is available to residents of both stripes. It depends on whose ox is being gored.
C.C., I've admired your work for EONS, and it's a thrill to appear in the LAT again. A puzzle comes to life when it's solved, and I thank you all for your comments. Here's to you, C.C. -- I raise a glass of two-buck chuck in your honor. Cheers!
For all you paint chemists, here is a spec on the Navy's GRAY paint.
Re: Grey Paint
That is a top secret formula
"Cease and desist immediately"
The FBI is tracking your IP address
Where was this puzzle today? My paper publishes the NY Times CW on Sundays so I went on line and the CW for the LA Times was not this one. Very confusing and I got on the blog all ready to feel good because I got almost all the answers.
Barry G, Gene Weingarten in the Washington Post used the word "koan" that you taught me, "With the deaf, does the tree-in-the-forest koan apply?" Very nice to know what he was talking about. As usual with him--very sophisticated language for a very crude subject.
Bill G @3:58
I saw your Yosemite post last nite, having hiked that area, it was like old times. I bookmarked it to send to friends.
One thing that bothered me, (sorry, i dissect everything) was in the early photo's, the camera kept moving. It made me wonder if he was hiking from one vantage point to another between takes, but the cloud patterns seem too close together for any distant hiking. I will probably spend days trying to figure out which camera angles and locations were possible in the time frame allowed in order to estimate how many days it took to shoot.
(it's another puzzle for me...)
IMG_2013.JPG
Well, Bill G., adding the photo appears tougher than I thought. I will try to have it as my avatar.
Abejo
Bill G, et al:
I ate part of the prime rib before I remembered to take the picture. I ate the entire thing, plus the potato, plus the dessert.
I will work on trying to figure out how to attach a photo to this blog.
Abejo
I had intended to mention earlier that the months are not capitalized in Spanish so it's "mayo to mayo"
unless it begins a sentence.
Jayce:
Ever since I saw AXOLOTL I wanted a hint to help me recall it then Fermat, I believe, mentioned she had named her horse that and my car came to mind.
Irish Miss:
It's always lovely to be remembered and sashaying through a puzzle is a good way.
My group of girlfriends had a birthday party for one of our number and I'm still laughing at our banter. There's nothing like a hen party to enjoy some pleasantries!
Abejo, yes, I had trouble posting a good quality photo also. Apparently you have to be able to post it on some sort of web page and then provide a link to that page. I tried it with Picasa though really didn't understand the process very well.
Anyway, it still looks very tasty.
With apologies to Kazie, here is an interview with an Australian politician about an oil spill.
Also, the barn owl and the pussy cat.
Speaking of strange name, there is a family named Dick that named the son Harry.
Way late - I don't adjust well to springing forward after a wild night of baby boomers drinking martinis and participating in karaoke - 10th annual "red and black" party.
What everyone else said. The puzzle took me a while- lots of erasures, but loved the theme! TWO BUCK CHUCKLE was truly a cheap laugh, but I loved it.
Thanks CC for your guidance and thanks Liz Gorski for a fun Sunday morning/afternoon.
There aren't many people that I truly "dislike," but Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh are on my short list. I don't like her hair or her little black dresses.
Barry G - How can you not be familiar with MOONDANCE?
It's easy when I've never actually heard anything by Van Morrison...
Barry G. How can that be? You would have had to grow up in in Outer Siberia to have not heard of Van Morrison or his incredible music. WHOA?? So are you like 12 years old or what?
NOT the shortest distance IS an arc.
The shortest distance ON THE SURFACE of a sphere is an arc, but the shortest distance is still a straight line, even if it does require a tunnel to accomplish.
I never heard of Moondance or twobuckchuck either and the NW was a disaster area for me. Got CHUCKLE, ASTA, TECH, SOOTHE and ANN but couldn't finish it. I got led astray by the almanac which said Oklahoma Indian Territory was opened in 1889, so I was trying to work something from that in.
I loved the rest of the puzzle and got all the other long answers. Thanks, C.C. for your usual fine write-up.
Grumpy, what happens if those two 8" gators have a big batch of eggs?
Fell heir to a Maugham anthology as a teenager. Don't know where it came from. Mom hadn't read it apparently or it would have been confiscated as too racy. Loved Maugham--spiciest thing I had read to date. He's a wonderful old gossip.
Bill G.-really enjoyed the trek through Yosemite last night. One place I wanted to go that I won't get to. I'm an Ansel Adams fan.
Spitzboov- Thanks for the owl and the pussycat clip. It looked like jesses on the owls legs, so surely he was a hand-raised tame owl. Think he's probably a snowy owl, isn't he? Amazing interplay with the cat.
Whoever posted the AXOTL clip-really enjoyed that. I looked at several clips of Axotls on that link. Never heard of them before. Natures wonders!
Pk and Barry G., I didn't know Moondance, either. I'm the right age, but I have never been into popular music even as a kid.
Here's a really nice time-lapse video including some beautiful auroras. Best viewed full screen.
And posting it once is enough, as with all of them.
For you Van Morrison fans: my town isn't famous for much, but it did contribute drummer Rick Schlosser to the world. He played occasionally with Van Morrison, but not on the Moondance album, so far as I recall.
Jayce: the Schlosser home is about a thousand yards up from the big Harley Davidson dealership I wrote about previously. In Rick's day, however, that land was a hayfield.
BillG: Thanks for the aurora! Ignor the grouchie auntie. Brought back good memories. An older man who had befriended me came to my office door after I had been working late and said, "You've got to see this. Come with me." I was too tired, but he insisted.
New fallen snow, driving without lights on back country roads where no one else had tracked. Came out of a wooded low area and stopped on the top of a hill facing north. The flashes of green and lavendar across the sky were magnificent. I didn't know until that night that the aurora could be seen from our state. My fatigue lifted. We talked. Magical night.
I married him 18 months later. I wasn't much interested in dating him before the aurora night.
Did you see 60 Minutes? I enjoyed the segment about online math instruction by the fellow at the Kahn Academy. I taught much the same way that he does in his videos but the online instruction is a powerful addition to the classroom experience.
I enjoyed the owl/pussycat video. There is something special about seeing different species of animals interacting in a friendly way.
PK, where was it that you got swept off your feet by the aurora guy?
Jayce, look up General "Chappie" James, one of the Tuskeegee Airmen. I have no idea where "Chappie" came from, since his given name was Daniel. Quite a guy.
And not all triangles on a sphere have angles totalling 270°; the sum in "inner" spherical triangles is between 180° and 540°.
Another groan for Avg Joe's tock joke, but I'll remember it.
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